Ricky’s pick for the U.S. Open final between Sabalenka and Pegula

There will be an American in both the men’s and women’s singles finals at the 2024 U.S. Open.

While Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe have been making a ton of headlines as the contingent of American men try to end a Grand Slam title drought of more than two decades, Jessica Pegula has also emerged as a huge story. Having previously never advanced to a major semifinal, Pegula upset world No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the quarters and then battled past Karolina Muchova on Thursday night.

The 30-year-old’s reward is a showdown against Aryna Sabalenka in the championship match on Saturday afternoon. Sabalenka owns a 5-2 advantage in the head-to-head series 5-2 after most recently getting the job done 6-3, 7-5 in the Cincinnati final last month. However, it is all tied up at 2-2 on hard courts.

Although Pegula is a sizable underdog, she has to be feeling confident. The world No. 6 kept their Cincinnati contest relatively competitive even though she was fatigued following a Toronto title right beforehand and the Cincinnati court was playing like an ice rink. She will a better chance of withstanding her opponent’s incredible power in slightly slower conditions in NYC.

Sabalenka lost early in Toronto but rolled to the Cincy title with victories not over Swiatek and Pegula. The Belarusian finished runner-up to Coco Gauff last summer at Flushing Meadows and is back in the final after most recently dismissing Qinwen Zheng (the Paris Olympis gold medalist) and Emma Navarro.

Sabalenka is the best hard-court player on tour right now–and maybe the best player in general. The second seed should have the edge in this one, but a confident Pegula will likely provide a stern test.

Pick: Sabalenka in 3

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.